Behind the Façades in France: What expats and the mainstream media (French and American alike) fail to notice (or fail to tell you) about French attitudes, principles, values, and official positions…

Sunday, November 22, 2015

In France, the immigrant’s life means dealing with the country’s bureaucratic maze

After I moved just over the Paris city limit to Pantin

wrote the New York Times' Mira Kamdar a few months prior to the November attacks,

I realized my status as a foreigner in France had changed. In leaving Paris for the banlieue, I had ceased to be an American expatriate, and became just another immigrant in France.

… The immigrant’s life also means dealing with France’s bureaucratic maze.
Police prefectures handle immigration matters here. In Paris, Americans
— and foreigners from a few other countries — are sent to a room
upstairs. There, I had taken a number and within a half-hour was sitting
before an administrator’s desk. Downstairs, a room crowded with people,
most of whom appeared to be from sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb,
waited for their turn at a stand-up window. I now have some idea what
they went through.

… Many
of the foreigners at the Bobigny prefecture are from former French
colonies in sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb. In seeking legal
residency, they are asking for official recognition of their existence
in France.

Most
foreigners begin with a one-year permit. In principle, you are eligible
for a 10-year permit after five years, and may also be eligible to
apply for citizenship. In practice, many people must renew their
residency permit every year, a humiliating exercise that makes it nearly
impossible to do things that would actually help them integrate into
French society, like getting a permanent job or applying for credit.